We know, it’s scary out there. Times are hard. A person can’t even leave their hoagie on a park-side bench without some hungry hungry thief coming along and chowing down on it. (We speak from personal experience.)

And though it’s easy to tell Humboldt’s arrest rate is spectacularly high – even if our crime solving capabilities seem a little lacking – a recent article by Chris W. Street on breitbart.com details a report from the State Attorney General’s website OpenJustice which points to Humboldt having the worst arrest rate in the whole state of California. Hurray, Humboldt! #1! #1! USA! USA!

Don’t worry, though. THC has got your back.

We’re watching! Big thanks to Arcatan for sending this picture. A Mike’s Hard Lemonade care package is headed their way!

In all seriousness, we have no idea who Chris Sweet is or what the site breitbart is all about. Judging from Señor Sweet calling the LoCO the Lost Coast Outlook, and the referring to Hoopa as “the Hoopla Valley Tribal community,” we’re guessing that he doesn’t have the most scrupulous journalistic method. Which we totally relate to.

But here are some interesting takeaways from his article. Enjoy, and Happy Saturday, friends!

“With a population of just134,809in a state of 38.8 million, Humboldt racked up 2,122 felony arrests, 6,635 misdemeanor arrests, 284 juvenile status arrests, for a total of 9,040 total arrests for the decade, according to California Attorney General Kamala Harris’s OpenJusticewebsite. That works out to 6.7 percent arrest rate for the decade.

Crime has steadily declined in the United States and the State of California since 2004. But the decline in Humboldt County crime reversed after 2010, and has returned to about the same rate as 2004. As a result, there were 341.9 violent crimes per 100,000 residents and 3,251.2 property crimes per 100,000 residents over the last decade.”

Arrests are not convictions. Here the POlice arrest people pretty much at random, picking up some of the same people 10 times a month (or more) for the “crime” of being drunk. The arrest rate is SUPPOSED to make us feel like the POlice are doing their jobs….when in reality they are doing a job ON us. Pay no attention to the chief behind the curtain. Law enforcement in Humboldt is an illusion

Thanks for the shout out. The sticker thing is actually a pretty fun idea. I’ve run out of the few you sent. Please send a few more. I’ve got a few ideas for placement. One particularly good one is a mailbox I pass everyday on Buttermilk in Bayside!

A couple of questions for Arcatan, THC and anyone applying those stickers:
If unwanted by the general public, is there a potential that someone being paid with taxpayer money will be the one to have to remove these?

Is this OK with all THC readers, especially those who are budget scolds?

Also, probably not really legal either. I wonder if local anonymous blogs encouraging gateway criminal behavior such as vandalism might be at all related to local increases in the crime rate.

Tongue mostly in cheek, especially for the last bit, but seriously, there does seem to be some contradictions here for what is generally a law-and-order/taxes such web site.